The Bears cut Archuleta at the beginning of the offseason after a disastrous season. The thinking was he would return to form in the defense he starred in at the start of his career in St. Louis. That never materialized and he was let go.

That leaves offensive linemen Fred Miller and Ruben Brown and running back Cedric Benson as the other starters from the beginning of 2007 that are out of work.

The Bears had a preliminary conversation with Miller's agent Harold Lewis but have left the matter at that for the time being. They seem ecstatic with the way the offensive line played last week but there's no telling how Saturday's game in Seattle or another injury might reshape things.

*** The Seahawks will be without wide receiver Bobby Engram, the former Bear, who will miss six to eight weeks after cracking a bone in his shoulder. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has missed practice the last two days with a back injury and could also sit out.

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Saturday is going to be a good test for the Bears o-line, especially for left tackle John St.Clair. If St.Clair can hold up against Darryl Tapp, he should be good to go. John Tait vs left end Patrick Kerney should be interesting also. I also hope left guard Josh Beekman continues to show improvement, and maybe Kirk barton can get some more first team reps. Barton might prove to be the steal of the draft. Especially the fact he has already been getting first team reps. Barton must be showing something to get first team reps, 7th rounders usually do not GO BEARS!!

There is a reason Brown, Miller, and especially Benson, are out of work. I think with Brown and Miller, father time just caught up with them. As far as Benson, he simply didn't want to improve or even try to get better, and was happy with his payday he got as an unproven rookie. So far, it looks like the Bears have improved big time at running back. I noticed in the pre-season opener, every time Forte carried the ball, he went forward, none of this get the ball, hit the line, and go down stuff. Hopefully Josh Beekman can prove to be a good replacement for Brown at left guard, if he continues from where he left off the other night, he will. I think Fred Millers replacement is rookie 7th rounder Kirk Barton. Tait will man the position for now, but I can see Barton eventually getting the nod at right tackle. I think if given time to develope, Forte, Beekman, and Barton will help the Bears get back on the winning track GO BEARS!!

I would be happy if Barton won the RT job, and we moved Tait back to the left side. I am more than a little concerned about St. Clair holding up on the left side. Going forward, we would have Barton on the right, Williams on the left, Beekman at LG, maybe Poles or Addams at RG, or eventually Beekman at C, with Poles and Addams on either side of him. This OL could be completely re-made by the end of this season, as long as they aren't too stubborn to put Barton in at RT, and move Tait. If they are intent on leaving Tait on the right, we will struggle all year from the left side, which means Grossman, Orton, and possibly Hanie and maybe another guy will all see time this year, because they will be getting killed. I was concerned about Barton's foot speed, but it appears he is capable of being a solid guy on the right side, and could be more than that with some seasoning.

Joe, Joe, Joe, why do you do this to yourself, Barton will not beat out Tait, it just won't happen and the Bears refuse to move Tait back to LT. As for the guards and centers, even out of his prime no one on this team is going to replace Olin and come close to being as good as he is. Beekman can't even beat out Metcalf who is injured (That alone should tell you how bad he is), and Addams is not even close to replacing Garza and Garza stinks. Your future line is Williams, Oakley, Beekman, Addams and Barton. These guys can't even beat the garbage we have starting right now, why would you want them to be your Oline, my god dude you have five Rookies starting together and none of them has ever played a down in an NFL regular season game. Why would this excite. Joe you are a desprate, despreate man. Oh and who is Poles, is he a practice squade guy did he play third string oline last week or something? Joe your such a glass is half full kinda guy. Joe this glass isn't half full, it's not quarter full either, it's bone dry ahd has some dirt on the bottom of it. Barton is the only guy I think that has starter potential, and I don't see that happening this year, then again he only played against the Chiefs second team D that was running Vanilla plays. The Chiefs dude, the Chiefs. It's a mantra say it over and over. The Bears will be playing Max protect all season. Here is a good question for you, why on earth are giving Williams a roster spot when his own Oline coach said there was a good chance he would not be the starter when the season opened before he got injured. The Bears admit they don't even know if he can play the position in the NFL but are leaving him a spot while he is recovering from back surgery and they don't even know when he will return. At the earliest they say November, have they gone insane? They are going to enter the season with 3 Tackles on offense. Here is another good question which Running back is getting cut, Wolfe seems to be the choice cause unless they open up a roster spot he is gone. No big loss but at least he is healthy and can play and contribute. Someone on this team who is healthy and can play and contribute is gonna be cut so the Bears can say Williams isn't injured while he is injured and not playing. Doing that makes no sense at all. The Bears are showing just how stupid they are.

Joe, you might be on to something long-term as far as seeing Barton on the field at RT, but I am not sure he is ready to start right now as a pure rookie. Tait was moved to the right side to preserve him and get max years out of his body, plus he has had ankle problems the last few years and is losing the foot speed required to play on the left side of the line. St.Clair has quick feet, but will need help when he has problems with elite pass rushers he might see this season. The interior of the line could see some combination of Beekman-starter, Adams, Oakley sticking and getting playing time late in the season, whoever does not win the starting left guard spot. This is a start of retooling the o-line, its really up to Hiestand and his coaching, he has some bodies to work with now. I'm not going down negative lane right now, this team was in the Super Bowl 2 yrs ago and out of the playoffs last season when they obviously did not perform well, with some solid coaching, and key play they could get back in this season, but lets see how they play this week before we start jumping off the Sears tower Creighton, if you jump now who will be negative when the season actually starts. Good point though about who gets cut to save a spot for Williams, if they go light it would have to be at corner where we have a lot of depth, otherwise I agree it would be a bad decision.

Creighton Creighton Creighton. I see you have a good sence that the O-Line is what it is for this season. Thumbs up.
Dude that is Creighton, Why on earth do you forsee Wolfe getting cut? The Bears coaching staff has already went on saying they will keep 4 running backs this year. I thought we had already went through this. PLAYER DEVELOPMENT! On top of that Wolfe contributed to the special teams last year and did very well.

My thinking is that the Bears will keep 2 QBs on the roster 4 running backs and 3 TEs. I dont think the offense will take the roster hit. I do beleive the Defense will be the one to loose a player. My guess is that Nick Roach will be the man out.
Reason why: Jamar Williams.
Roach is not a versitile player when it comes to playing multiple possitions in the backer spot. He does not have starting ability and is mainly a special teams contributer.

One more Wolfe tidbit. He is the only running back on the Bears that can line up anywhere. The opposing Defense will have to bring in an extra man in the box to spy on Wolfe. Dont be surprised if we see Wolfe, Forte and Hester on the field all at the same time to combat 8 men in the box this year.

Creighton, I disagree, I think the first time St.Clair struggles, the Bears will swap Tait and St.Clair. If this happens, there is a good chance rookie Kirk Barton could end up in the line-up by mid-season. If Chris Williams returns, I can also see the Bears moving him into the starting line-up, why else would they keep him on the roster? Heck, by 2009, Williams, Barton, and Beekman will probably be in the starting line-up for the Bears, maybe as soon as november of this season. Its not to conceivable to think that Tait or St.Clair could be injured at some point during the season, this would allow Barton into the starting line-up.
Creighton, since you always critique me, why I'm going to take this very wonderful opportunity to return the favor. Garret Wolfe is actually playing injured right now, he has a bad hammy. So the Bears would actually be keeping an injured Williams on the roster with another injured player, that player being Wolfe. This is the NFL, a lot of players play hurt, this is the nature of the beast. Also, I really don't see the Bears cutting Wolfe, we all know how Angelo feels about his draft picks, especially 3rd rounders or higher. With all that being said, I think Wolfe is going to be a good 3rd down and change of pace back for the Bears. If Kevin Jones does not show anything or is injured again during the pre-season, the Bears might cut him. I know its been only one pre-season game, but Wolfe looked good the other night, even you have to admit this Creighton. Wolfe said," his hamstring is about 80% right now." It didn't seem to effect him at all the other night. And with the amount of touches Wolfe will get in the regular season, I don't see the hamstring being a problem. I see Forte getting the bulk of the carries and Wolfe & Jones spelling him, and in the end, the Bears are going to have a very good young offensive line, especially if Beekman and Barton come on GO BEARS!!